NOAA has released its seasonal forecast for the Gulf of Mexico dead zone — the area of low-oxygen waters off the Louisiana and Texas coasts where marine life has difficulty surviving. The scientists predict the Gulf’s dead zone will be between 7,286 and 8,561 square miles. The high estimate would exceed the largest reported Gulf …

Last night the Harte Research Institute held a dinner in honor of Sylvia Earle, one of the world’s leading oceanographers. She’s in Houston to give a lecture this evening (it’s free, see details) at Rice University’s Baker Institute. Earle, who is on the board of the Harte institute that studies the Gulf of Mexico, spoke …